UNDERGROUND, by Andrew McGahan

Many of us are not exposed to Australian writers and I'd say McGahan is a great one to start with. His political satire Underground is based on the outrageous premise (well, maybe not that outrageous, given the state of the world) of a post-democratic security state in Australia set up after a brazen N-bomb destroys the capital city of Canberra. The story is told as a death-row memoir, narrated by Leo, the brother of the Australian prime minister. It's fast paced and unpredictable, with plenty of satirical swipes at the US and Aussie power structure, culture and people. It's a defiant statement on a serious theme, but is broadly humorous and very enjoyable. Leo's character, and how he talks about his twin brother the pm is very funny. It's a book well worth reading.

For a review of the book from The Australian, click here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/underground/story-e6frg8no-1111112374816 

A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD, by Jennifer Egan

I'm excited about this book - a very entertaining, clever, moving and boldly experimental book that centers on the "goon squad" of Time and how it affects everything. Several main characters are traced through various times in their lives, interacting with other characters and their spouses, offspring, siblings, etc. The complex narrative zooms back to the late 1970s punk scene and forward to a futuristic 2020s version of New York, across generations, love relationships, marriages, partnerships,etc. The book is neither a collection of short stories nor a conventional narrative, but it holds together very well and is in fact cyclical. It was strongly praised when published last year and a very impressive book indeed.

For a review of the book from the Guardian, click here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/13/jennifer-egan-visit-goon-squad

UNDERWORLD, by Don DeLillo

Underworld is DeLillo's masterwork, written in 1997 (note the Twin Towers on the original book cover). It's an astonishingly beautiful mosaic of 20th Century America, told in a series of vignettes revolving around the lives of a colorful variety of characters of all types. There are plot connections, for example, the way the characters are linked by the initial event at the Dodgers-Giants baseball game in 1951 and the development of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. It's also very wide ranging, both in time and space - at 800+ pages, truely epic in scope.It's a book that must be experienced and savored - funny, moving, profound, it rings very true. The language is crystalline, the best of anything he's written - and he's written lots of great stuff. The book is right up there with the strongest books of the past 50 years.

For a review of the book from NY Times, Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/14/daily/underworld-book-review.html